Power generator



Feb. 20, 1923. 1,446,084

1.. A. DARLING I POWER GENERATOR Originl Filed June 24, 1916' 4 sheets-sheet l imwm law's flIDarZizzg,

%g f i Feb. 20, 1923. 1,446,084

L. A. DARLING POWER GENERATOR Original Filed June 24, 1916 4 sheets-sheet 2 I I'IMWW 116101 8 fi'lDarZiny;

Feb. 20, 1923. x 1,446,084

- L. A. DARLING POWER GENERATOR Original Filed June 24, 1916 4 sheets-sheet 5 Feb. 20, 1923.- v 1,446,084-

L. A. DARLING POWER GENERATOR Original File d June 24, 1916 4 sheetssheet 4 .l wnm Lewis flllariing,

Patented Feb. 20, 1923.

LEWIS A, DARLING," or rrrrnnnnnriim,

PE NSYLVANIA, 'As'sIoNon To; E no 'rnro SERVICE sUrrLiEs ooMraNY, or PHILADELPHIA, PENNsYLvANIA, A conronn- TION or PENNSYLVANIA.

, row-En GENERATOR.

Original application filed Ill-116.24, 1915, SerialNo. 105,661. 'Dividediand this application filed.- December 15,, 1917. Serial No, 207,242,

To all 1076007.); it may concern; I 1

Be it known that I, LEW S A. DARLING, a citizen ofthe United States, residing in Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State oi Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Power Generators, whereof: the following is a specification, reference being had to: the

accompanying drawings.

. This application is a division of my pending application Serial No. 105661, filed June 1916. v My invention relates to power generators,

particularly those of the turbine type, and;

to auxiliary devices Which are peculiarly adapttd to use in connection therewith, but which are not necessarily restrictedto such use. Amongst the objects is the provision or a generator system comprising, among other features, fluid feeding" means. speed governing means, and oiling. means, the Whole system being divided into-compartinents operatively connected, A generator system of this type isparticularly adapted for use in cases, Wheresustained uniformity of sped and voltage and means for insuring the same are'of great importance, as in case of electric headlights for locomoinvention relates to that type.

T his invention Will be best understood by reference to the drawings of-the illustrative (HibOtlllllGllt thereof 1n connectlon wlth a d sei'iition of the same and in the draw i a in.);s-

F I, is a sideelevation of the apparatus,

indicating in partly broken section portions I of an clectiiic generator operatively connected with the system.

F 1g. II, is a vertical cross sect1on on the line Il---Il, of Fig. I. I

Fig; III, is a vertical longitudinal sec-,

tion on the line IIIIII of Fig. II. Fig. IV, 15 a sectional detail on an enlarged scale on the line IVIV of Fig. VII.

Fig. V, is a diagrainnjiatical sectional detail on the line V-V, of Fig. IV. Fig. II, is an enlarged sectional ,detall on th? line VI.VI,oi F 1g. 1.

the headlight 19 suitably supported.

' I F g. VII, is a sectional detail on the line vri vn, of Fig. III. I

The present embodin1ent.. of my invention it comprises,.Fi I, a substantially cylindrical barrel creasing 1, havi'ng'a depending ,sup: porting Web 2, at each end, provided with'a; supportingtlange orfoot shown at one end in Fig, I, the casing I 1, carries a suitable electric generator 19% inal housing or frame 19* connectedwith brushes of such ture, holds, and

The arma an electri'c generator as is'?indicated, may;be

of any preferred constructiontosupplyfcurrent for the use to which it is to be put,'as' for lighting incandescent headlights andsupplying any other Theicasing or-housing I, Fig- I, has an opening in its top Within a curvilinear, up:-

v incandescent alight-for and about aisteam locomotive, 'or elisewhere.

"therefor, affording ready nreansof access ,7

tothe interior; it has also an; oildrain plug e, at the bottom.

The reservoir aliorded the lower portion of the casing 1 is supplied Withoil through the opening 17 ,in the casing (Fig. II) Which has a plug 17". This opening is preferably so loc'atedfthat when replenish ing the oil supply. therethrough,it Will pre vent the. oil level rising abovethe point at which it has been found the-best results are obtained. Also, oil-flooding of the machine i is prevented as the "highest level of thus atiton'iatically controlled.

Que advantage of constructing the casing 1, in the form of a holloivfmen ber, or

barrel, is that it not only affords a strong, compact construction for: the operating to parts, to bod'escribed, but also offers a'conw vement structure for embody-mg there n my improved oiling means, theyoiling' feature being animportant one, particularly in the I 4 construction of all high speed generators.

Extending throughthe casing lgllig. III, is a mam power shaft llyhavlng Widely:

. separated bearings I2, 13, at-the oppose 1 ends-0r sides of the casing; ljlhev bearin front end wall of the casing 1; and the hearing 13, is supported in a cap member 1%, secured, Fig. 111, to the right-hand or forward end of the casing 1. The casing 1, Fig. 1H, here used as an oil reservoir, and the oil obviously has ready access to the bearing 12, and to the bearing 13, by means of opeir ings 18, through the walls of the casing 1, and the sleeve 12 respectively. T he bearing members 12" and 14-, thustcounected to the casing 1 have bores for the shaft 11 at their outer sides.

These bearings are retained against longitudinal movement outwardly on the shaft 11 by locking nuts 1.5, 16, respectively, threaded on the shaft. The bearing 13, may be retained against longitudinal movement in the opposite direction by any convenient means such as a sleeve 1?, locked to the shaft, as by a screw 17, or the shaft 11, may be enlarged at this point in lieu of the sleeve, if desired.

While stufiing boxes may be used if desired for the bearings of the shaft ll, 1 have found that oil chambers effectively take care of all leakage of this kind, and provide necessary protection for the bearings 12, 13.

against the entrance of dirt, etc. accord ingly, Ihave provided. chambers 19, one at each end of the casing 1, for this purpose. Oil that leaks through the bearings 12, 13, and is thrown off by the nuts 15, 16. or the shaft 11, adjacent thereto, is caught and retained by these chambers at the bottom thereof. These rotating nut members 15, 16, it will be seen, directly overlap the annular outward passage from between the ball ring members of the bearings 12, 13. g

It will be obvious that oil collected in these chambers 19, will, if it reaches the height of the channel 18,0verflow into the reservoir or casing 1, and will never rise any higher (in the chamber 19) than the openings to said ch annels.

Adjacent the chamber at each end of the casing 1. is a second chamber 19, which serves to collect any oil that may work past the web 19 said chamber coimnunicating at its bottom with the chamber 19. The righthand chamber 19 is in the cap 14:, while the left-hand chamber 19 is in a cap portion of the member 12"- secured to that end of the casing 1, as shown.

fl he housii'm' 9, Fig lll. for the tu bine wheel is carried by webs 8, from the end plate 7, and the rear wall tl "j housi apertured to receive the end of .116 shah At the point where the Shaft 11, pa s" into the wheel housing 9, a slight clearaziwe for the shaft is provided and the webs 9, extending between the wheel housing and the end plate,'?, and the central casing 1, to which the wheel housing is attached as by screws, are so designed as to form a recess for the reception of a fan or baflle'plate 1 ,aeaosa 80 which is secured to and turns with the shaft 11. Said fan serves to prevent any exhaust fluid, as steam, which may escape through the clearance space, from within the turbine casing, from entering the central casing 1, and interfering with and lowering the efiiciency of my novel oiling system, hereafter described. The fan also tends to reduce by reason of air circulated, the quan tity of heat transmitted from the housing 9, to the casing 1.

Further, the fan blades offer a convenient means of holding the shaft when disassembling the generator or certain parts thereof. The housing 9, isequipped with a removable cover 10, secured thereto by screws and ready access to the interior of the housing is thus afforded.

From one side'of housing 9, an exhaust pipe 48, leads to atmosphere or condenser. The exhaust passage is preferably formed integral with the housing 9.

fit a convenient point in the lower hortion of housing 9, a suitable opening is provided for draining purposes.

The housing 9, is provided with a neck 25, on its edge and near the top, having a passage 26 therethrough, and by means of which the propelling medium may be supplied to the turbine wheel ciamber and wheel 20, hereafter described. lVithin this neck, the passage 26, extends laterally to the right across the housing to the rear thereof through a wall 27, communicating with a vertical 7 age 28, in a boss 29, extended laterally in the case The passage 2", contains a strainer 30, which may be a tubular member, threaded to engage the wall 27, and boss 29. and provided on its outer end with a head for convenient insertion and removal thereof as by a wrench.

This strainer 30, maybe provided with a plurality of apertures 31, in the side thereof to permit free pass e of steam in all directions, and it may carry a sheet of any suitable straining material, as line wire c oth 32, on its ii'iner face. Elastic fluid under pressure is directed to enter the center of the cylindrically shaped wire cloth or strainer 32. Thus this stir er material will not collapse even. wl en entirely clogged with foreign matter w h is effectually prevented from entering the steam iassage ways and interfering with the speed con r l of the generator.

The passape 28. downwardly from the strainer meyl. I J, Ito a longitudinal nozzle shaft passage extended across the boss 29, to the interior of the housing 9, and the turbine chamber 8?. in this passage 33. for convenience, I insert a bushing 3 1, threaded to engage the wall 27, and the boss 29, and provided with a series of circumferentially arranged openings or steam inl ts 35. ese inlets communicate with proper Voltage to the headlight, Will l employ a novel construction comprisingv a hollow nozzle'carrying and feeding shalt- 36, provided with a lon 'itudinal nozzle feed- ,ing passage 37, andpassages 3S, leadiin from the same to the chamber 35; The Sllillit has a nozzle 39. secured to its left-hand end, and is a part of my means. t

While it may be preferable-to proportion the size of the steam passage 37, in the nozzle shaft 36, 'and if necessary, the steam passages 35, 35, leading thereto, to the approximate steam pressure regularly carried in a particular installation, so that the full load, be sus tained at such pressure, this is not necessary. y i

In order that the generator may be used conveniently also in cases Where the conditions are for some reason likely to be changed, and where it may be desiredto carry the full load at lessthan the full available steam pressure, passages for steanimay be proportioned to'the full'load to perform the full service at soine minimuin pressure, say 150 pounds. v

A suitable passage suclufor instance. as lines, may be provided leading from 'the outside of the boss .29, to the passage 28, and into this passage a sleeve 38,may be inserted and provided, with ports 38,

A'steam cock 38 of suitable length, Fig. 30b

11, may then be threaded into the sleeve on so that by turning the'cock in or out, the ports 38, maybe closed or opened to the desired extent. Then if steam is normally carried at say-150 pounds pressure, and it is desired to increase this pressure to pounds. it will be possible to carry the tull load at'the original pressure of 150 pounds under the changed conditions, by closingthe ports .38 .siuliciently to permit only 150.

pounds pressure to be supplied to the nozzle shartt 3e. 7 Iem'ployn rigid fluid feeding IllQll'll'Jel', as a nozzle 39 1V V) sc cured to the reduced'end .llpo'f theshail t lli. as by a screw 41', and from which shaft the propelling medium is fed to thei'iozzle, through lateral apertl'lres 42, and a longi tudinal aperture .43. The nozzle depends (Fig. l") Wheel 20.

A longitudinal passage through the nozzle is contracted at its inner end to term a throat 46, which gradually increases in diameter toward the outer end oi the nor, el-

to provide more space for t-lie'propellingr medium as its pressure is decreased v nozzle 39, 1S bevelled on its side-la,

speed control and governing on v "generator. which arrangeinent in close proximity to the turbine cent to the turbine Wheel, toperniit close positioning of itrelative to the blades22: lhe turbine Wheel may be of any. desired form of construction, and herein comprises two parallel solid side .'1nenibers or disks- 20, conven ently secured to a hub 21', as:

by rivets. I p

These disks are provided, Figs. HI, V, nearftheir edges with a series of curved vanes, blades or buckets 22', extended from one disk to the other, the. p'ocketsbetweenthem opening nto the central space between the. two disks.

this, instancejl have, Fig. HI. extended posts 28, on the ends of theblade's through; v

The'tun the disks and headed them over. bine isretainedon the shaftll, which; may be tapered to receive the Wheel hub 21,- by a nut 2e.

for insuring such, regularity. Particularly is th s so 1n the case of a machine adapted I The blades may be secured to the disks in any suitable manners In for use inconnection \vith'aheadlight en'- a locomotive, here fluctuation in. the volt age is'a serious detect because, asstated,

he life ofthe' lamp is n'iaterially shortened thereby and, besides increasing the ex JGHSG of 'i'nainten'ance' its reliabilit i's'in paired.

To insure the required sustained even-- nessof speed and voltage, I have," in this case, conceived: constructioii which sing braces the principle-of the fly ball governor applying it tof control' ott the turbine actu-" a-ting medium, the vitaln 'echanisni being; a-

part of my. oilingsystem, hereafter "described.

lnniy construction this governor, and a j portion of its linkage, hereafter (loser-died, 1S enclosed Within the central frame of the permits my very efficient and dependable oiling system to be used. i

" Referring again 'to Fig. III, the shaft 11, with a collar Whi ch may be secured thereon as by a pin The c'ol-" lar 51, is recessedIat a plurality of points on its face to receive grn'ernor in' shoWn also as nozzle-peeltioninp' bell crank levers 53, pivotally as by pins 54, the longfludinal arl. weights or lover's prelerably Tbe'in longest' i i Adjacent to the collar- 51. ZtIHUVZIblO' governing sleeveflfia, oft su't' ile thicl'qness, and drilled at one end. to receive aplurality of lever-engaging pins 56. with enl-a fined heads. These pins are positioned opposite and are adapted to be engaged by the short a .nsfot levers i I On the shaft vl1, and between one end gghts here f I provide of this sleeve 55, and adjacent s eeve 17, is a weight, opposing coiled spring 57, seated against opposed ends of said sleeves. This spring acts normally to press the sleeve 55, toward the re? the ma hine, as shown in Fig. Ill, and tends, with the nozzlepositioning and governing means, to be presently described, to allow the nozzle 1: take a pos'. ion. to deliver dii adjacent the blades 22, of the turbine wheel 20, as V, full line position.

The sleeve 55, is reduced at one nd, and carries thereon one ring ball bearing, and ball race 59, thereof, constituting, together with a co-og erating pivot l ported ring 60, a nozzle-positioni governing yoke-eng U M member.

This ring (Figs. ll, Ill) is su'oported by a nowls-positioning and grove 61, carried in turn by a tally mounted in bushin into the opposite side walls oi the The ring 60, is pivotally suppo the arms of? the yolre 6i. pins 68 For effectio the ct led cas ng 1. between by screw l oit'the nozzle 39, by means of the governor weights 53 sorins 57 and. oke 61 T can the 7 p 7 7 1 construction which I now descrlbe.

The shaft 62 carries noon one end l P which in F19. ll 1s at the leit a crank 7 o 7 L 64-, one end or which is split and secured b0 the squared end oi the shaft 62, by means of a locking; screw The opposite end oi the crank 1s apertured an on l by will a hook, 66, on the lower e of a 6i, carrylngat its upper end. a curvilinear head 68.

The head 68., is preferably received by an adjustable socket-like member 69, herein shown as a bushing, the passage 70, therethroug gh being flared at one end, to permit insertion and removal of the head 62, and at its opposite end 'i'reedom oi": movement of the linl: 67.

This bushin 69, is threaded into and therefore adyustably secured to one 71,

secured. to the shaft 36. The

of a three-arm lever 72, squared end of the nozzle lever 7 2, may be secured to the shaft 36, in any desired and suitable manner, as, for instance. by splitting the end of the lever arm and locking; it on the shat 86, by a screw 73; and the bush'ng may he satisfactorily locked in adjusted posit in the end of lever 7 2, by a similar screw While any su.-;able medium. as air or liquid, may be used as a aropelling; agent. for use on a steam locomotive, as tor a headlight, steam oilers many advantages, and the embodiment oi? my int on described here in is adapted to be operated by steam from the locomotive.

It will. be obvious that when the actuating; fluid for the turbine is supplied. through the pipe in neck 25., it will blow thrm to throw naaaosa bine wheel, as rotation of the shaft 36, will toward or away lironr move the nozzle 39, the blades 22, and therefore vary the quantity oi" propelling medium delivered thereto. As the speed of the generator increases, the lever arms 53, tend to "fly outward, but are restrained. by the pins 56, collar 55, and they in turn are restrained by the spring 57.

This spring is preferably of such tension that it will not yield until the speed of the main shaft is approximately, but not quite up to. that at which it is desired that the shaft be run in order to run the electric generator at the desired speed. When the spring yields, it permits the collar 55, and ball bearing; members 58, 59, to slide longitudin ly on the shalt 11, and thus swing the ring 60, in. the same direction. This swinging of the ring; 60, also acts through its connection with the yoke arms 61, 61, to turn yoke shaft 62, acting in turn through the crank 64, its connections with the fluid feedin member, herein its link 67, and lever 72, to turn the nozzle shaftv 36, and nozzle 39, with relation to the turbine wheel 20. This action determines the quantity of propelling medium that will be impelled against the blades 22, of. the wheel 20, and thereby determine the speed of the shaft 11, and in this case, generator 19 and voltage of the lamp 19 (lbviously, when the rotatable shaft 36, is

turned to throw the nozzle 39, close to the blades, (see V, full line position) they will receive substantially the full driving effect of the fluid. When the shaft is turned the nozzle more or ess away from the blades, (dotted line position Fig. V), they will receive less driving; e'llect than before, and rotate more slowly.

lVhile the foregoing}; construction will pro vide very complete and accurate control and adjustment of the nozzle relative to the turbine wheel 20, and hence the speed oi. the generator, I have provided an additional adjusting; member 75, for still more accurately adjusting and con rolling the speed of the generator, and also for returning; the nozzle to its initial position. b

This additional or supplementary speed controllin means "tor obtaining: stil finer adjustment and more con'iplete control comprises a second spring; member 75, herein a leaf spring (Figs. ll, VI), one end of which is secured to the arm 7 6, of the lever 72. its opposite and lower end adjustably engaged by the head 77, of the link 78, pivotally secured to the adjustablescrew 79,

threaded into the casing l, and locked inposition by the nut 80. It is, of course, obvi ous that by means of this spring 75, and its adjustable connections, an additional pres-' sure may be imposed upon the lower, arm -76,

of the lever 72, and shaft 36, and acting to restrain the leverand shaft 36, against rotation by the arm (it, also to a"most.accu

rately gauged. degree. Therefore, the spring 57, is ad usted to-giveapproximately the compression necessary to yield 'ata speed somewhat below that required of shaft 11,

andvthrough connections already described, actuate the shaft 36. The spring is also adjusted to a still finer'degree and will, by

its tension, still more accurately determine the time and extent of actuation of shaft-36,

and thereby provide a most complete con trol. of the shaft and nozzle 89, carried thereby with a corresponding resulting uniformity of speed. This additional adjusting spring 75, also co-acts wit-l1 the governor spring 57 ,to take up all lost motion in the speed controlling mechanism and thus acts to assist in maintaining the proper speed and provide proper voltage for the lamp.

F or'properly oiling the several parts, I have conceived a novel construction. It is, of course, very desirable that the-oiling sys tem be one that Will require a minimum oi attention and possess a maximum oi elliciency. As already stated, I use the casing fed and distributed to the mechanism with-' in, and properly communicating with, the. centralcasing, including the bearings 12, 13

as well as the governor itself. .This'is accomplished without a violent splashing of the oil which results in so extensive a leakage of the'same about the bearings, and

which splashing is so often the result of. other forms or construction. The foregoing has proven to be a very efficient, economical and automatic oil system, and I have found that a single filling of oil in a plant in accordance with my invention may be operated for a long period without attention as to oiling, such plants having been repeatedly operated tor several months to suply inean descent lights on locomotives, without any attention whatever to lubrication; after a full supply of oil had been introduced in proper 11121111181.

ing' it to foam, 1 have provided an oil feed In past attemp'tsjto use generators iora drivin'g an electric generator which electric headlights for locomotives, a serious "obstacle has been the inabil ty to insure a I steady and unvai'y ng s'peed,so that when,

a aim nishes current for lighting, for instance, the.

voltage willremain substantially constant,

and a variable voltage seriouslyshortensthe .lite oftli'e lamp. I i I A generator for use in connection with a locomotive headlight,moreover, must beget.

eoinpactand strongfdesign; comprising a minimum of easily assembled parts which are economical to manufacture. t. I 1 .I am able by the foregoing construction to obtain a uniformity of speed, and in'fthe present case, a uniformity 1I1"VO1t2Lg6,:Ie-'

sulting in uniformity and longev ty ofthe lamp hitherto unattain-. able. v j

This constructionis. remarkably simple in operation, requiring but stron'gjto withstand the hard usageto which it'is necessarily subjected; 5

of lighting capacity little attention, especially as to oiling, and is compa-ctfiandq It willbe clear-that many details Greene struction may be reservoir, shaft with a governor thereon, a bearing for-wthie shaft, and oilingmeans for the "bearing including a disk adapted to run in oilI and feed it to hearing and governor.

throughthe bearing, a governor on the shaft and means operatedbyrotation of the shaft for automatically lu -v within the casing,

bricating said bearing and governor.

Y 3. In a turbine, a housing adapted to. contain anoil bath, a bearing member connected thereto open for lubrication on the side to ward the housing and having a shaft bore on the opposite side, a bearing in said bearmember in opencommunication with the housing, a shaft in said housing,a governor on the shaft, and means on the shatt within the housing forlubricating the bearing and a j 4;. Ina power-generator, a shaft, a bearing for the shaft. governor we ghts carried by the power generator, a casing, a bearmg member at one end of said casing, a shaft varied without departing from the spirit of my invention and scope of the accompanying claims, or sacrificing its advantages. f v j Y 5 Having thus described my invention,v I claim: f

l. A power generator comprising an on? shaft, an oil reservoir, and commonantomatic means'for oiling both-"bearing and governor weights therefrom. l I

In atu'rbine, a casing, a shaft therein, a

bearing for the shaft, a governorfonthe shaft. w'th a at position to prevent filling of thecasing with oil above, the proper level.-

6. The combination of arotary shaft and a bearing therefor, means affording a'noil pp y opening in the casing reservoir beneath the shaft, a governor on t, and means carried by the shaft for ta ig up oil from the reservoir to lubrieate the governor,

7. The combination of a rotary shaft With a governor thereon, means affording an oil reservoir beneath the shaft, means carried by the shaft for taking up oil from the reservoir to lubricate the governor, and a bearing for the shaft open toward the governor, and receiving. oil from said means.

8. The combination of a rotary shaft,

aiiorc iing an oil reservoir beneath the shaft, governor Weights carried by the shaft, and means carried by the shaft for taking up oil from the reservoir to lubricate the governor Weights.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name at Philadelphia, Pennsyl- Vania, this fourteenth (lay of December, 1917.

LEV-HS A. DARLKNG. Witnesses JAMES H. BELL, E. L. FULLERTON. 

